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Peer Review

New Product Life Cycle (PLC) Website and Template

Reviewed:

Nov 12, 2018 by Business
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 4.0 stars
Content Quality: 4.0 stars
Effectiveness: 3.8 stars
Ease of Use: 4.2 stars
Overview:

New website dedicated to the product life cycle launched. It covers lots of theory, but also includes a free Excel template that enables students to quick map products onto the product life cycle curve. This is ideal for simple activities or homework. You could provide them with a list of products and ask them to map them onto the PLC curve. Alternatively you could get them to identify products that fit into the different stages of the product life cycle and create their own graph of products.

Type of Material:

Assignment

Recommended Uses:

This can be used as a tool for student projects and presentations where a PLC curve is required.  It can also be used for teachinig basic Excel skills.

  • Homework
  • In-class simulation/demonstration
Technical Requirements:

Excel.

Identify Major Learning Goals:

To show students how to simplify this task of creating a PLC graph in excel through a free Excel template.  The template enables the mapping of multiple product names quickly and easily along with the ability to move product locations simply.

  • Demonstrate the new product life cycle through using an excel spreadsheet to graph the PLC for one or more products
  • Understand the PLC
Target Student Population:

College Lower Division, College Upper Division

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Basic marketing principles around new product life cycle; computer skills; basic Excel skills

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:

The module does exactly what it intendts to do, which is to help people build a PLC curve in Excel. 

  • Simple simulation of the PLC
  • Good instructions using the Excel worksheet
  • Can be a fun exercise to demonstrate the concept visually and interactively
Concerns:

Students would need to understand what a PLC curve is before understanding what the curve means.  The module does not discuss "how" a student would determine which map position is appropriate.  The module was more about creating a chart than it was learning how and where a product would be on a PLC.  The instructor would need to supplement this information through lectures, the textbook, or online resources such as http://product-life-cycle.com/.

  • No citations or references to follow for more information
  • Lacks context to help a student who needs review of PLC
  • Really needs classroom/instructor setup to understand the purpose of the assignment

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:

The process for creating a PLC in Excel is summarized into five easy steps on the spreadsheet. 

  • Easy to include as an assignment when discussing PLC
  • Quick assignment that with some context could be used for homework/in-class simulation/etc.
  • Very useful to visually demonstrate PLC
Concerns:

This template assumes a "normal" PLC curve and does not address other curve types that might exist.    The video does not demonstrate the last step (copying/pasting) into a document.  Novice students may have difficulty with this step.

  • No specific pre-requisite knowledge detailed
  • No context for learning objectives
  • Could use to define some concepts/jargon up-front
  • Could use some links or resources to help build on topics covered

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:

There is a 3:27 video about how to use the template.  The instructor walks through an example using Kellogg's cereal.  There is also a nine minute video showing how to make a PLC curve in Excel. 

  • Fairly easy to use once you get to the Excel spreadsheet
  • Directions are clear, very engaging and interactive
  • Videos on using the spreadsheet were helpful (once you got to them)
Concerns:

In the event that the website is taken down, instructors may wish to download the template at http://www.marketingstudyguide.com/make-plc-free-excel-template/ as a backup copy.

  • Unsure of the accessibility of the worksheet
  • Website harder to navigate to get to the Excel spreadsheet and has lots of distracting Ads
Other Issues and Comments:

  • Great simulation for engaging students interactively with the PLC
  • Can be a great addition to a marketing course when discussing PLC
  • Easy to use and strong directions (and videos) for using the Excel spreadsheet
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